The Mimic

149

Wanda slowly lifted her head up at the sound of y/n's voice, turning to face her with an almost confused look in her eyes. The pair hadn't been on good terms for a long time, so to see her reaching out to help felt weird. She expected y/n to be petty, yet there she was, offering to help. The look in y/n's eyes explained it all to her.

Understanding.

Y/n and Wanda had both lost loved ones before, and every single time it had happened, they'd been alone. Y/n was trying to be there for Wanda, to be a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold. Yes, they weren't close - hell, they were barely friends, but y/n wasn't going to let Wanda go through something like that alone. It wasn't fair. She'd already lost her parents and her brother, losing Vision would be the last straw if she didn't have anyone else by her side.

"I'll help you." Y/n repeated with a serious look in her eyes. She stood up a little straighter, but didn't move out of Bucky's arms. "I can mimic your powers, meaning that we both have what it takes to destroy the stone. If you want me to-" Y/n paused, giving Wanda a knowing nod. She didn't actually want to say it out loud, but everyone knew exactly what she was hinting at. "I'll do it. But if you just want me there as protection, I can do that too. I can form a forcefield around you two to protect you whilst it happens. Just say the word, and I'll do it. I'll be there the whole time."

Wanda couldn't help but give y/n a weak smile, nodding knowingly as she squeezed Vision's hand. "Thank you, y/n." She said in a grateful tone, her attention turning back to her soulmate. She was extremely grateful for y/n. She had a good heart, a really good heart, and offering to be the one to destroy the stone was something that meant a lot to Wanda. It meant that Wanda wasn't going to have to be the one to kill her lover and live with the guilt for the rest of her life. However, Wanda wasn't sure if she wanted y/n to be the one to do it. She didn't want to stand by and watch her lover die, but she also didn't want to be the one to kill him. It was a decision that she was going to have to make, but not right now.

Once the team moved back into preparations and discussions, Bucky pulled y/n impossibly closer to him. He pressed a few kisses to the top of her head with a gentle hum, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of her head. "Proud of you." He murmured gently, a fond smile appearing on his face. Y/n was the strongest person that he knew, and to see her reach out to Wanda like that just seemed to prove that fact even more.

However, before y/n could respond, a loud crash outside was heard, almost as if a bomb had exploded.

Thanos' army had arrived.

In a matter of seconds, everyone except Shuri, Vision, and Wanda had left the lab, all rushing to join the rest of the Wakandan army at the border.

Leaving the lab was an eerie experience. Wakanda was always alive with music and voices, the streets were always full of children, and there was always something going on, but now it was empty. The constantly busy marketplace was empty. It was like a ghost town. All festival preparations had been ditched, bags and baskets had been left on the ground, even fresh food had been left out in the open. Any kind of footstep seemed to echo across the whole area, and the whistling of the wind seemed to be louder than ever before. It was weird.

Y/n and Bucky had decided to take a shortcut through the marketplace, and the tension in the air was immense. They'd never seen the marketplace so empty - hell, they'd never seen Wakanda so empty. Everyone that weren't part of the Wakandan army had been sent to the bunkers underneath the Citadel, almost as if they were preparing for a nuclear war.

"There'll be other festivals." Bucky hummed with a disappointed sigh, busy making sure that his gun was fully loaded. "I'm sure that after something as big as this, a festival will definitely be needed, and you'll be able to dance the night away. Hell, maybe I'll join you for a few of those dances." He offered with a reassuring smile, glancing over at y/n for a split second before he turned his attention back to checking all of his weapons.

Bucky was trying his hardest to make light of the stressful situation by giving himself and y/n something to look forward to, but it was hard. Today was supposed to be amazing. He'd planned everything. Once the festival ended, the pair were supposed to stargaze together in the mountains, but instead they were probably going to be treating one another's wounds. Any time with y/n was perfect, and they could make light out of any situation, but battling intergalactic aliens wasn't really in the plan for tonight.

Y/n gasped as Bucky offered to dance with her, a bright smile appearing on her face as they continued to make their way through the marketplace. "Really? You'll dance with me in the middle of a crowd?" She asked excitedly, her smile just seeming to widen as Bucky nodded. "I'm holding you to that." She hummed confidently, beginning to check herself for all of her weapons. She had knives, guns, grenades, everything. Yes, she could easily just use her powers, but she wasn't sure if her powers could even hurt the aliens, so she had to be prepared for hand-to-hand combat, too.

"After this, we're getting cheeseburgers. I don't care if we have to use the quinjet to find a good place, we're going. I want the most artificial cheeseburger in the world. We deserve it after fighting a bunch of weird aliens." Y/n said seriously, frowning at all of the fresh food that had been left out in the open. She'd already tried to eat some of it, but Bucky had quickly slapped her hands away. Just like swimming, it wasn't a good idea to eat just a few minutes before a fight.

Neither y/n or Bucky really understood the gravity of the situation. They believed that it'd be over in a matter of hours, and life would go back to normal, but Thanos and his army were stronger than anyone could imagine.